The Demand for Intoxicating Commodities: implications for the "War on Drugs"

THE BEST THAT CAN BE SAID ABOUT THE WAR ON DRUGS (FROM THE POINT OF view of those who run and support it) is that while it will fail, its failure may not be evident. For quite unrelated reasons, demand within the United States for some drugs, especially cocaine and cocaine derivatives, seems to be declining (Bachman et al., 1988,1990). Since that de? cline coincides with rhetoric about the Drug War, apologists for that war will claim credit for the change, suggesting to us that the war is being won. In this article, we aim to show why such claims are absurd and concentrate instead upon the most neglected aspect of illicit psychotropic drug use ? the demand for drugs.